OTI Festival

OTI Festival (Spanish: Festival OTI de la Canción / Gran Premio de la Canción Iberoamericana, Portuguese: Festival OTI da Canção / Grande Prêmio da Canção Ibero-Americana), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition organised annually by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) among its members for 28 editions between 1972 and 2000. Each participating broadcaster submitted an original song representing its country, in Spanish or Portuguese, to be performed and broadcast live to all of them via satellite, and then there was a vote to determine a winner.

The festival was a spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest for Ibero-American broadcasters, and it was preceded by the Festival Mundial de la Canción Latina, held in 1969 and 1970 in Mexico City. The first OTI Festival was held on 25 November 1972 in Madrid and the last one was held on 20 May 2000 in Acapulco. Since then, it has been cancelled due to the questioning of the voting system of the latter festivals, the lack of sponsors, the low quality of the entries, and the withdrawal of some prominent countries. Broadcasters from twenty-seven countries participated at least once in the festival, with Chile, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela participating in all twenty-eight editions.

The main goals of the festival was to generate a process of cultural and artistic fellowship between the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, and to encourage the creation of original songs among their authors, composers, and performers. It is the largest, longest running, and most successful spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest, leaving a great mark in Ibero-America by giving many famous artists and hit songs.